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Open access versions of publications by faculty, postdocs, and graduate students in the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science.
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Item Novel Word Learning in Multilingual Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder: Roles of Social Cognition, Multilingualism and Vocabulary Proficiency(Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2024) Ning, Jinghong; Hu, Anqi; Qi, Zhenghan; Sheng, LiWhile the impact of social cognition on novel word learning has been extensively studied in monolingual populations, limited research has investigated its role in multilingual children with and without autism spectrum disorder. This study examined the role of multilingualism on the acquisition of novel English words under directly addressed and overhearing conditions. Participants included four groups of children with different language status (multilingual and monolingual and diagnostic status (typically developing and autistic). The results revealed that the learning preferences vary across participant groups depending on their language and diagnostic statuses. Additionally, dynamic patterns of novel word learning were unveiled, demonstrating the influence of English vocabulary proficiency on multilingual children's learning process. The findings highlighted the complex role of multilingualism on driving the formation of learning preference for typical developing and autistic children.Item Impact of ASL Exposure on Spoken Phonemic Discrimination in Adult CI Users: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study(Neurobiology of Language, 2024-06-14) Nematova, Shakhlo; Zinszer, Benjamin; Morlet, Thierry; Morini, Giovanna; Petitto, Laura-Ann; Jasińska, Kaja K.We examined the impact of exposure to a signed language (American Sign Language, or ASL) at different ages on the neural systems that support spoken language phonemic discrimination in deaf individuals with cochlear implants (CIs). Deaf CI users (N = 18, age = 18–24 yrs) who were exposed to a signed language at different ages and hearing individuals (N = 18, age = 18–21 yrs) completed a phonemic discrimination task in a spoken native (English) and non-native (Hindi) language while undergoing functional near-infrared spectroscopy neuroimaging. Behaviorally, deaf CI users who received a CI early versus later in life showed better English phonemic discrimination, albeit phonemic discrimination was poor relative to hearing individuals. Importantly, the age of exposure to ASL was not related to phonemic discrimination. Neurally, early-life language exposure, irrespective of modality, was associated with greater neural activation of left-hemisphere language areas critically involved in phonological processing during the phonemic discrimination task in deaf CI users. In particular, early exposure to ASL was associated with increased activation in the left hemisphere’s classic language regions for native versus non-native language phonemic contrasts for deaf CI users who received a CI later in life. For deaf CI users who received a CI early in life, the age of exposure to ASL was not related to neural activation during phonemic discrimination. Together, the findings suggest that early signed language exposure does not negatively impact spoken language processing in deaf CI users, but may instead potentially offset the negative effects of language deprivation that deaf children without any signed language exposure experience prior to implantation. This empirical evidence aligns with and lends support to recent perspectives regarding the impact of ASL exposure in the context of CI usage.Item Transitivity and non-uniform subjecthood in agreement attraction(Memory & Cognition, 2023-12-19) Yoo, Myung Hye; Tollan, RebeccaResearch on human language converges on a view in which a grammatical “subject” is the most saliently encoded entity in mental representation. However, subjecthood is not a syntactically uniform phenomenon. Notably, many languages encode morphological distinctions between subjects of transitive verbs (i.e., verbs that require an object) and subjects of intransitive verbs. We ask how this typological pattern manifests in a language like English (which does not morphologically signal it) by examining the “distinctiveness” of transitive versus intransitive subjects in memory during online sentence processing. We conducted a self-paced reading experiment that tested for “attraction” effects (Dillon et al., Journal of Memory and Language, 69(2), 85–103, 2013; Wagers et al., Journal of Memory and Language, 61, 206–237, 2009) in the processing of subject-verb number agreement. We find that transitive subjects trigger attraction effects, but that these effects are mitigated for intransitive subject attractors (independently of the number of other noun phrases present in the intervening clause). We interpret this as indicating that transitive subjects are less distinctive and therefore less representationally salient than intransitive subjects: This is because a transitive subject must compete with another clause-mate core argument (i.e., a direct object), which draws on resources from the same pool of memory resources. On the other hand, an intransitive subject minimally only competes with a non-core argument (i.e., an oblique noun phrase); this consumes fewer memory resources, leaving the subject to enjoy greater spoils.Item U.S. parents' attitudes toward playful learning(Frontiers in Developmental Psychology, 2023-12-15) Wright, Charlotte Anne; Pasek, Josh; Lee, Ji Young; Masters, Ally S.; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick; Thomsen, Bo Stjerne; Hirsh-Pasek, KathyIntroduction: There has been a surge of research on the power of play to facilitate learning in recent years. Guided play, specifically, has emerged as an optimal learning approach over free play and direct instruction. However, whether parents' attitudes toward play align with the emerging research remains largely unexplored. Addressing this gap, the present study is the first to operationalize play by using the playful learning spectrum (i.e., free play, guided play, games, and direct instruction) to investigate parents' attitudes toward play. Methods: The study surveyed a broad, national sample of parents with at least one child aged 2 to 12 years living in the United States (N = 1,172). To understand preferences for each approach and the factors related to those preferences, we examined how individuals regarded each of the four learning approaches and ran a series of regressions predicting perceptions of learning from the approaches as a function of demographic and attitudinal factors. These regressions were estimated in two different ways, allowing us to identify which predictors were related to each outcome as well as which explained these perceptions uniquely, over and above other predictors. Results: The findings revealed a preference for play over direct instruction, with parents likely to perceive free play as most conducive to learning. Regression analyses uncovered significant variations in perceptions based on demographic and attitudinal factors, with highly educated respondents most likely to endorse free play, more knowledgeable respondents most likely to endorse guided play and the least educated respondents most likely to favor direct instruction. Discussion: While the study reveals parents' evolving, positive attitudes toward play, it also underscores a gap between academic research, which highlights the advantages of guided play, and parents' perceptions. Implications for parent support initiatives are discussed.Item The Role Classifiers Play in Selecting the Referent of a Word(Languages, 2023-03-14) Ma, Weiyi; Zhou, Peng; Golinkoff, Roberta MichnickAn important cue to the meaning of a new noun is its accompanying classifier. For example, in English, X in “a sheet of X” should refer to a broad, flat object. A classifier is required in Chinese to quantify nouns. Using children’s overt responses in an object/picture selection task, past research found reliable semantic knowledge of classifiers in Mandarin-reared children at around age three. However, it is unclear how children’s semantic knowledge differs across different types of classifiers and how this difference develops with age. Here we use an arguably more sensitive measure of children’s language knowledge (the intermodal preferential-looking paradigm) to examine Mandarin-reared three-, four-, and five-year-olds’ semantic knowledge of four types of classifiers indicating animacy (human vs. animal distinction), configuration (how objects are arrayed), object shape, and vehicle function. Multiple factors were matched across classifier types: the number of classifiers, perceived familiarity and perceived typicality of the target, and the visual similarity of the two images paired together. Children’s performances differed across classifier types, as they were better with animacy classifiers than with configuration and vehicle function classifiers. Their comprehension was reliable for animacy, object shape, and vehicle function classifiers but not for configuration classifiers. Furthermore, we did not find conclusive evidence for an age-dependent improvement in the child’s performance. The analysis, including the oldest (five-year-olds) and youngest (three-year-olds) children, revealed a marginally significant age effect.Item Conceptions of play by children in five countries: towards an understanding of playfulness (Las concepciones acerca del juego de niños de cinco países: hacia un mejor conocimiento de la actividad lúdica)(Journal for the Study of Education and Development, 2022-12-19) Mukherjee, Sarah J.; Bugallo, Lucía; Scheuerb, Nora; Cremin, Teresa; Montoro, Virginia; Ferrero, Martha; Preston, Marcia; Cheng, Doris; Golinkoff, Roberta; Popp, JillDrawing on a mixed-methods cross-cultural study undertaken in five locations in Argentina, Denmark, Hong Kong, England and the United States in 2018, this paper explores how children (aged five and seven) conceive of playfulness. Following a card-sorting task, 387 children selected familiar activities that they felt were most representative of play and not-play and explained their reasons. The children’s justifications were fully transcribed, and five corpora were created (one per site). Lexicometry was applied, generating sets of the characteristic responses per age in each site. In-depth qualitative interpretation of these modal responses revealed nine dimensions across play and not-play: pleasure, social context, materials, movement, agency, risk, goal, time and focus. Commonalities revealed that children’s ideas around play are not aligned with specific activities but with the sense of agency in a secure physical and social context when carrying out an activity experienced as an end in itself. Implications for playful pedagogies highlight the need to open up play with opportunities for children’s choice and initiative, confident exploration and immersion in the activities in which they participate. RESUMEN: A partir de un estudio multicultural de métodos mixtos realizado en 2018 en cinco localidades de Argentina, Dinamarca, Hong Kong, Reino Unido y Estados Unidos, en este artículo se exploran las concepciones acerca de la actividad lúdica de niños de cinco y siete años. Tras una tarea de clasificación de tarjetas, 387 niñas y niños seleccionaron aquellas actividades familiares que consideraban más representativas de juego y aquellas más ajenas al juego y explicaron sus razones. Se realizó una transcripción completa de sus justificaciones y se crearon cinco corpus (uno por localidad). Mediante la lexicometría, se generaron conjuntos de respuestas características por edad en cada localidad. Una interpretación cualitativa detallada de las respuestas reveló nueve dimensiones lúdicas y no lúdicas: disfrute, contexto social, materiales, movimiento, agencia, riesgo, meta, tiempo y focalización. Las coincidencias revelaron que las ideas que los niños albergan en torno al juego no están vinculadas a actividades específicas sino a un sentido de agencia en un contexto físico y social seguro a la hora de realizar una actividad como fin en sí misma. Las implicaciones para las pedagogías lúdicas subrayan la necesidad de incorporar al juego oportunidades de elección e iniciativa para los niños, así como una exploración e inmersión segura en las actividades en las que participan.Item Gender expansive listeners utilize a non-binary, multidimensional conception of gender to inform voice gender perception(Brain and Language, 2022-01-01) Hope, Maxwell; Lilley, JasonHighlights: • People of all genders rated themselves and voices on continuous gender scales. • Men and those with higher masculine identity perceived voices as less masculine. • Women and those with higher feminine identity were more flexible in gender perception. • Increase in “other” gender identity facilitates “other” voice gender perception. • Gender expansive people have a distinct “neutral” voice gender reference point. Abstract: Few studies on voice perception have attempted to address the complexity of gender perception of ambiguous voices. The current study investigated how perception of gender varies with the complexity of the listener’s own gender conception and identity. We explicitly recruited participants of all genders, including those who are gender expansive (i.e. transgender and/or non-binary), and directed them to rate ambiguous synthetic voices on three independent scales of masculine, feminine, and “other” (and to select one or multiple categorical labels for them). Gender expansive listeners were more likely to use the entire expanse of the rating scales and showed systematic categorization of gender-neutral voices as non-binary. We propose this is due to repeated use of reflective processes that challenge pre-existing gender categories and the incorporation of this decision-making process into their reflexive system. Because voice gender influences speech perception, the perceptual experience of gender expansive listeners may influence perceptual flexibility in speech.Item Differences in Sibilant Perception between Gender Expansive and Cisgender Individuals(Seminars in Speech and Language, 2023-03-07) Hope, Maxwell; Lilley, JasonAcoustic cues of voice gender influence not only how people perceive the speaker's gender (e.g., whether that person is a man, woman, or non-binary) but also how they perceive certain phonemes produced by that person. One such sociophonetic cue is the [s]/[ʃ] distinction in English; which phoneme is perceived depends on the perceived gender of the speaker. Recent research has shown that gender expansive people differ from cisgender people in their perception of voice gender and thus, this could be reflected in their categorization of sibilants. Despite this, there has been no research to date on how gender expansive people categorize sibilants. Furthermore, while voice gender expression is often discussed within a biological context (e.g., vocal folds), voice extends to those who use other communication methods. The current study fills this gap by explicitly recruiting people of all genders and asking them to perform a sibilant categorization task using synthetic voices. The results show that cisgender and gender expansive people perceive synthetic sibilants differently, especially from a “nonbinary” synthetic voice. These results have implications for developing more inclusive speech technology for gender expansive individuals, in particular for nonbinary people who use speech-generating devices.Item Licensing unergative objects in ergative languages: The view from Polynesian(Syntax, 2022-05-20) Tollan, Rebecca; Massam, DianeTransitive and unergative verbs have long received a uniform syntactic analysis, where they differ in whether an overt object is present (in transitives) or absent (in unergatives). We examine how objects of unergative verbs are case licensed when they are present, focusing on a contrast between two related Polynesian languages: Samoan and Niuean. Both languages have ergative case systems, with subjects of intransitive verbs receiving absolutive case. When unergatives have an overt object, however, a difference emerges. In Samoan, ergative case is absent: the subject of a transitivized unergative is absolutive, and the object receives “middle case.” In Niuean, the resulting transitive exhibits an ergative–absolutive frame. Working within a split-vP system, we propose that the contrast between Samoan and Niuean results from the interaction of three parametric differences. This comparative analysis highlights the importance of considering unergative constructions when determining the underlying syntax of any given case system.Item The role of the absolutive object in morphological accessibility(Linguistic Inquiry (MIT Press), 2021-06-25) Tollan, RebeccaThis squib discusses environments in which a subject bears ergative case in the absence of an absolutive object, contrasting syntactically ergative languages (e.g., Q’anjob’al) with languages in which the ergative argument cannot be targeted for φ-agreement (e.g., Hindi-Urdu). In these environments, the parallels between Ā-movement and verb agreement with respect to the morphological accessibility hierarchy (Bobaljik 2008, Deal 2016) break down: in the absence of an absolutive object, syntactically ergative languages allow for extraction of the ergative argument, but in absolutive-only φ-agreement languages, agreement never targets the ergative argument.Item Unanswered Questions in Colombia's Foreign Language Education Policy = Preguntas por responder en la política educativa de lenguas extranjeras en Colombia(Universidad Nacional de Colombia Ciudad Universitaria Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras., 2015-10-01) Bonilla Carvajal, Camilo Andrés; Tejada-Sánchez2, Isabel; Camilo Andrés Bonilla Carvajal, Isabel Tejada-Sánchez; Bonilla Carvajal, Camilo AndrésFollowing the trend of much of the Western, non-English speaking world, Colombia has tirelessly strived for spreading English education in an effort to augment economic benefits. This paper aims at providing a critical account of foreign language education policy in Colombia, with special attention to English. It outlines the impact of its multiple transitions over the past decades through a historical description that overviews all previous policies, the critical reception by scholars, and present-day initiatives. We then move on to analysing the choice of English as a synonym for bilingualism and conclude with emerging questions that are to be considered for future debates and reassessments of Colombia's English-Spanish bilingual education policy.